OD Blackout: Paladino Endorses Kicinski

From the Amherst Times: Paladino Endorses Kicinski for Congress
From WNY Media's Albany's Insanity: PALADINO ENDORSES KICINSKI FOR CONGRESS

  “In 2010, the TEA Party supported and campaigned for their present representative,” said Paladino. “But it is clear from the incumbent’s voting record that he is not listening to or representing the people of the district,” Paladino continued. “Mike can be trusted because he knows he is accountable to those who support him.”

Interesting . . .

Fishing for $$$!

This makes me crazy . . . 

Local resort receives $700,000 federal tourism grant (5/14/2012)

Fish Creek Cabin Resort has received a Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan for rural development totaling $700,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer announced Monday. The funding will allow the resort to purchase cabins and rental equipment and grow business beyond kayaking and canoeing to benefit skiers, fishers, and hikers as well, Schumer said.

Tourism grant awards announced (5/14/2012)

Oneida County Tourism has announced the recipients for its new Tourism Marketing Grant Assistance Program. The awards provide financial assistance for the promotion of tourism attractions, events and activities taking place in Oneida County . . . Fish Creek Cabin Resorts,. 5,625.00,. . .

Microenterprise Grant assists Fish Creek Cabin Resort to begin operations in Taberg, NY (10/27/2011)

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. announced today that Fish Creek Cabin Resort, LLC has received an Oneida County Microenterprise Grant in the amount of $34,200 to assist its startup operations. The Oneida County Microenterprise Grant program, administered by Mohawk Valley EDGE, utilizes Community Development Block Grant funding . . .

The grant will assist Fish Creek Cabin Resort with working capital as they commence a $1.44m civic, recreational and eco-tourism destination project that is transforming a once blighted landscape in the Town of Annsville from an income dormant rental housing community into a 7-acre four-season economically viable recreation campus. 

From a March 2011 OCIDA Notice of Public Hearing we find out that OCIDA

will provide financial assistance to the Company in the form of issuance of a lease for a term of five (5) years, exemptions from mortgage recording tax, exemptions from sales and use taxes and abatement of real property taxes for a period of five (5) years

and buried in this article Indium Corp. makes plans to expand (10/15/10)

the IDA also approved an initial authorizing resolution for the Fish Creek Cabin Resort, which would be located in Taberg and primarily target kayakers visiting the area.

What ever happened to people putting their own capital at risk?  or going to a Bank for a loan? or selling shares to investors to raise capital?

Through their government the Taxpayers have been a silent "partner" to this little Oneida County start up business -- or making "investments" as the politicians like to claim -- right from its inception. But unlike a real partner, they get NO right to a return on the investment of THEIR money: 

It seems like there's no such thing as a free market/level playing field anymore.  Government is involved in everything.  This is discouraging to those who don't want handouts because Government becomes their competitor.

Upward Bound: DEBT!

Per the OD: MVCC receives $250,000 grant to help students.

Mohawk Valley Community College will receive a $250,000 federal grant to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds, U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna announced this morning.

Wow ... this sounds like great news.  Who could be against helping disadvantaged students?

MVCC's Upward Bound program "aims to generate the skills and motivation necessary to complete a higher education degree," according to a news release. Students eligible to participate include first-generation college students, low-income students and those with disabilities.

Nice -- but how is this different from what we are already paying for?  Aren't our schools supposedly already geared to generate skills necessary to complete a higher education degree?  

And how does a federal program generate "MOTIVATION? The implication is that first-generation college students, low-income students, and those with disabilities somehow are not motivated.

Now consider that about 40 cents of every dollar of this grant (or about $100,000) is being borrowed by the federal taxpayer.

One's education is the responsibility of the parents, and ultimately, the students themselves.  There are so many opportunities already out there that no one should be lacking the education they want if they are really motivated.  No federal program can substitute for what must come from within.

What this program is ... like many others ... is to foster a culture of dependency on the federal government.  Look at the "Life of Julia" scenario promoted by the current administration.  The implication is that people need the federal government to get by.  But they don't . . .

The only thing Upward Bound by this program is our National Debt .... Debt to purchase government control of many people.

TEA Party: NOT Going Away!

As much as some Republicans wish it, the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party is NOT going away. Six Term US Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind) appears headed for defeat tonight in today's primary at the hands of Richard Mourdock, who was backed by Tea Party members. Surely his support for the UN's Law of the Sea Treaty, which was supported by both Bush and Clinton administrations, did not win any support among Tea Party members who view the treaty as an affront to US sovereignty.


In our own backyard we have a Tea Party Challenge to Representative Richard Hanna on the Republican ticket June 26 by Michael Kicinski of Earlville.  The OD (unsurprisingly) merely reported that Kicinski was running in a short blurb today not mentioning that Kicinski fought off a challenge to his petitions by the Oneida County Republican Establishment.

Unreported by the OD whatsoever is the fact that long-time local Conservative leader Julie Miller of Utica also filed petitions to challenge Mr. Hanna on the Conservative line. You have to read the Binghamton Press-Connects to find that out.  

Mr. Kicinski may seem like a long shot -- but maybe not. Mr. Hanna won with Tea Party support in his last run, but cannot count on that support now. The Tea Party favors limited government and fiscal responsibility, and abhors politics-as-usual. It thought it had a champion in Mr. Hanna who was not a politician.  However, Mr. Hanna not only has sounded very much like a politician after taking office, he has disappointed many with his votes to increase the debt ceiling three times and for more government programs. He gives no comfort to those who fear that government has simply become too intrusive into every-day lives, nor to those who fear that our national debt will become this nation's undoing.   Mr. Hanna could be viewed as an out-of-touch "1% er" -- in tune with the "global elite" compared to Mr. Kicinski who unabashedly admits to being unemployed on his web-site -- who like many others, has been the victim of an economy that has been shedding jobs to overseas locales under policies promoted by Democrats and Republicans alike. 

This could be a very interesting primary.    

Metro Government: Let's Get Started.

Every now and then, something comes along in the Observer-Dispatch on the subject of consolidation of regional services or "Metro Government."  Usually promoting the regional agenda of our "powers that be" that already control things  (you know, the people who always seem to manipulate government to wind up on the receiving end of the taxpayer largesse -- see recent posts in NH Online for the latest example), today's edictorial "Time to talk about metro government" is no exception.

The editorial gives three examples of businesses that have been/are being moved to Rome from Utica with county taxpayer (i.e., including Utica residents') participation. These moves manifest the "regional agenda."  Those who call these moves "hijacking" are dismissed by the O-D as "parochial." To the O-D:

The silly turf wars need to stop. We must see ourselves as a region . . .

I agree. The question is, is the Observer-Dispatch serious about our creating a true regional government that will REPLACE our current patchwork, or does the O-D want just enough "consolidation" to continue implementing its friends' current policies which have promoted one unit of local government cannibalizing another (with Utica seemingly always being the one eaten).  

The O-D needs to be reminded that these policies have created sprawl and given us a public infrastructure that far exceeds the needs and ability of our stagnant regional population to sustain.

To be Fair to the residents of the municipalities involved, "Metro" needs to be an "All, or Nothing at all" proposition... Responsibilities for both the good and bad in the region must be shared. One community should not be built up at the expense of another.

So, Observer-Dispatch, when you use these examples of businesses moving from Utica to Rome and promoting "Metro" government, are you ready for a merger of Utica and Rome and environs? Though more ambitious than what this blogger has proposed in the past, I actually think that would be a great idea! That way, when former Rome's tax-base gets augmented while former Utica's declines, some of that money will find its way back to pave roads in former Utica... and it will come back because more than 2/3 of a Utica-Rome Metro Council will be from former Utica and vicinity.

The "devil" is always "in the details,"  isn't it, O-D?


Somehow I don't think the Observer-Dispatch is really interested in Metro government, at least not one where ALL participating residents will share the benefits, ALL will share the burdens (including the cost of negative results such as declining tax base or incomes), and ALL will share in the decision-making. The O-D has always been there to demand that Utica "share" its benefits with the region, but has never demanded that the region share Utica's burdens . . . The region's principal city, Utica, is always left to fend for itself.    Like the pot calling the kettle black, perhaps the O-D is the one that is being parochial.....

But I could be wrong.   This is 2012 and some say the world as we know it is about to end.  If so . . .

Metro Government: Let's Get Started.

Cannabalism . . . While Utica Sleeps!

OD 10/15/10 Indium Corp. makes plans to expand

Indium Corp. is looking to expand its space of operations by moving into an additional building at 6149 Sutliff Road in Oriskany, company officials said Friday. . . .
The 64,000-square-foot building Indium Corp. is looking to purchase has an assessed value of $773,000 . .

Rome Sentinel 7/21/11: Rome? Georgia? China?

Indium Corp. wants to open a manufacturing plant in the West Rome Industrial Park and create 30 jobs over time, but the plan comes with some conditions. Before Indium buys and renovates the former ConMed building at 5836 Success Drive, it wants incentives from the county Industrial Development Agency and the state. While Kevin Martin, outside counsel for Indium, says Rome is the preferred location, he notes the company also is considering sites in Fulton County in Georgia, and China. . . .

Indium has its global headquarters in Clinton and a facility in Utica. It has 302 direct employees in Oneida County, plus contract workers that bring the total number to around 400, said Martin. The addition of a Rome plant would not affect employment at the other two locations in the county.

Rome Sentinel 4/20/12: $1M in grants and credits for Indium Rome expansion

 The company has already bought the former ConMed building at 5836 Success Drive and begun renovations. The new location will create up to 24 new full-time jobs. Indium currently has about 320 employees at its Clinton and Utica facilities.

Empire State Development Corp., New York’s economic development agency, is providing the company with a $347,939 grant to help offset the cost of the purchase of new machinery and equipment, as well as $652,061 in Excelsior Jobs Program tax benefits over five years.

 The project, estimated at $10 million, includes the relocation and expansion of some operations from Indium’s Lincoln Avenue location in Utica, including existing machinery and equipment. . . .  

116,124 square feet . . .

So plans have changed from "not affect"ing employment at the company's other two locations (July 2011) to relocating operations from Lincoln Ave to a location almost 21 miles away on the FAR side of Rome in April, 2012.  Pretty sad for a company founded in Utica in 1934. Indium can certainly do what it wants, and should do what it needs to survive and thrive, BUT

Why should taxpayers participate in this?  And where the heck were Utica officials all this time?

The answer to the last question may be that Utica officials and residents were already tapped out by this corporate pan-handler . . . 

OD Editorial 10/09/2007:  Indium deal lacking job information.

In its deal between the city of Utica and Indium Corp. that could be worth nearly $1.2 million, it’s not clear to the public whether Indium will be living up to its part of the bargain because it’s not fully forthcoming on job totals and job goals. By refusing to disclose that information, the company fails to provide specifics the public has a right to know as a partner in the deal.  That deal was announced last week following preliminary approval by the Utica Industrial Development Corp. of a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program and mortgage recording tax and sales tax exemptions that could total $545,000 over the next decade. That would be in addition to a $600,000 loan, approved by Utica’s Department of Urban and Economic Development in July. . . .

The $600,000 “loan” won’t have to be repaid if the company maintains 120 jobs at two Utica sites for five years. 

2007 to 2012 is -- 5 years!  Yup -- time to move on to the next community teat to milk. 

Enough is enough. Handouts are wasted money.  They do not fix the problem.

Cannibalism!

Indium receives $1M from state to expand 

Indium Corp. will move “selected” operations, including machinery and equipment, from its offices on Lincoln Avenue to a new facility on Success Drive in Rome.
The project will be supported by $1 million in a state grant and tax benefits, and $100,000 via the city of Rome.

It's interesting how often taxpayers pay for companies to move from Utica to Rome. Now people will have to drive farther (with $4.00/gal gas) to go to work! Even a move to the NH Business Park would have been preferable.

And Utica just sits there and takes it

Disgusting.

Viva la Résistance . . .

Per the OD: Utica teachers reject contract: What's next? 

Monday’s defeat leaves $5.8 million out of the budget that would have restored 90 classroom jobs, including full-day kindergarten. . . . 
Approximately $2 million of the $5.8 million would have come from a wage freeze. The remaining $3.8 million is promised in increased state aid if the teachers’ union and the administrators’ union agreed to the teacher and principal evaluation system negotiated in Albany this winter. [emphasis added]

There may be a lot more here than meets the eye.  Undoubtedly, some teachers may have voted down the contract out of greed . . . not wanting to give up the pay increases that almost all other public employees have given up. . . and not caring about the public's ability to pay.    For many, however, the evaluation portion may be the bigger issue.

Instead of being evaluated in accordance with standards set by their supervisors or local board of education, they will be evaluated per standards set in Albany . . . and ultimately Washington where this program is originating.

People take on debt to build their homes.  The nation is taking on debt also to build a structure:  A NATIONAL structure to control our local schools.

Control what goes on in our schools, and you control the population.

Viva la Résistance!

Marketing Effort? . . .

or Marketing Study?

Per the OD: Our view: Airport needs more aggressive marketing effort

According to the editorial, Fixed Base Operations at Griffiss "International"  Airport simply have not produced the profits anticipated (hoped-for) by Oneida County. But the OD has the answer:

What’s really needed is more aggressive marketing of the airport. That needs to be a combined effort, with the county, Mohawk Valley EDGE and the airport commissioner working in partnership with Million Air — Freeman Holdings’ franchise name — to secure more business. Their success would benefit everyone.

The unstated assumption, of course, is that there is a market for what Griffiss has to offer. . . This seems to be a reoccurring error of our "build it and they will come" county leaders who repeatedly show their ignorance of business basics by spending lots of money on facilities without knowing precisely what needs are currently unserved or underserved locally, how local people are coping with their needs, and who this region's competition might be. This blog talked about the County's lack of basic business information back in 2008 for example.

While it is possible that there is a perfect niche for Griffiss "International" Airport to fill, it is not clear what that niche might be (though there were signs of needs in the air cargo department about 10 years ago).  What is needed is a Marketing STUDY to determine what niches GIA might fill.


Diving into an "aggressive marketing effort"  without knowing the market may result in Oneida County spending a ton of money and effort on the equivalent of marketing snow to Eskimos.

Le Tour . . .

Le Tour de France is the world-famous bicycle race ... this year starting in Liège, Belgium, and traveling in stages over a three week period through numerous French cities (and part of Switzerland) from the English Channel south through the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea, then west to the Pyrenees Mountains then north to end on that famous Boulevard in Paris, Les Champs-Élysées (which handles some 90,000 cars a day when Le Tour isn't running).  People far and wide follow the Tour de France . . . Win it, and you are an international star.  But Le Tour de France is not the only bicycle Tour . . .

Le Tour d'Utica is . . . not quite as famous . . . nor nearly as long (about three hours)  . . . and not even a race.  It's just a time for bicycle enthusiasts to get together and have some fun taking a themed tour of their favorite city -- or least the one that they are closest to.

This year's theme is coffee ... and several stops are planned with coffee in mind.  So while Tour de France followers may want to check out the champagne cellars in Epernay, France, Tour d'Utica participants can check out the roaster at Utica Coffee Roasters on Baggs Square West.

Click on the image at left or visit the CNY-BAP home page for more details.

Join in the fun . . . You might even spot a famous gold bicycle on your ride.

Going Batty in New Hartford . . .

Per the OD: Newest obstacle in N. Hartford storm-water project? Bats The endangered species Indiana Bat to be exact . . .

The town is working to improve storm-water drainage in areas that have historically been impacted by flooding. . . .

But while environmental scientists were examining the upper portion of Beechwood Road, where phase two of the project will begin, they noted that the clearing and removal of trees may interfere with the bat species, said Senior Managing Engineer Charles White of Barton & Loguidice. 

 The firm alerted the Town Board of the issue earlier this month. Now, Barton & Loguidice will perform an environmental study costing about $11,000 to identify if the bats are in fact roosting in the trees. . . .

The bats have been on the endangered species list since 1967 and if they are found here, trees cannot be cleared until fall when the bats head back to the Indiana caves where they hibernate.  [emphasis supplied]

HELLO???   Based on the statement above, the prudent (and less costly) thing would seem to be to assume that the bats actually roost in Beechwood Road's trees and then do all tree clearing between the fall and the time that the bats return from Indiana, whenever that is. [There may even be time now if they hurry.]


Why spend money studying bats when tree-cutting can be timed for when they won't be around?

Not Budging . . .

At least that was the overall impression left after attending a rather frustrating meeting last evening with DOT officials about our favorite topic: The North-South Arterial.

Oh it was not that blatant.  There were the usual conciliatory tones that DOT is looking into "this" or "that"  alternative. . .  but we've been through the drill often enough to know that DOT only looks far enough to justify its own position which can be summarized as "My way IS the highway."  Then it becomes a matter of "expertise" (members of the public are not traffic engineers, you know) and current highway standards require X,Y and Z (i.e., DOT can't accommodate those needs).  The bottom line is that it's always a highway.

The inescapable fact is that the N-S Arterial is also a street -- an integral part of Utica's street grid -- but the proposal continues a 50 year tradition of making that local street system less functional by forcing people to drive out of their way for short local trips and to follow routes that are not intuitive.

Several Utica Council members being in attendance was no help.  Holding on to 62 million dollars seems to be their main concern as opposed to the dysfunction that 62 million will create in the Utica street grid. If I hear that we need to take a "regional"  perspective of the highway design one more time from one of these people it will be one time too many. Utica residents and businesses should not have to be inconvenienced to meet a "regional" need. If Utica goes down the toilet, the whole region will follow.

The take-away is that Sunset Avenue will ultimately be closed and a pedestrian bridge that few will use will take its place. 

Is DOT really incapable of designing a city street or streets that can accommodate the traffic of those who merely want to pass through? Somehow I find that hard to believe.

Sticking a Finger in Your Eye . . .

And Twisting It!

That is what a lot of local Republicans must be feeling today after reading of Congressman Richard Hanna's comments at an Equal Rights Amendment rally in the Huff Po article: Richard Hanna, GOP Congressman, Tells Women To Give Their Money To Democrats. 

"I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault," he told the crowd of mostly women. "I'll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side -- my side -- has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can't succeed without your help."

"Precarious times for women?" Women aspire to the highest office in the land and head some of the nation's largest corporations.  Some would say these are the best of times for women.  .

"So many of your rights are under assault?"  Exactly which "rights," Mr. Hanna? Please be specific.


"You need to remind people that you vote" ... Really? In this day and age of minute-to-minute polling that slices and dices voting data among gender, age, racial, ethnic, sexual and political orientations?   

There are reasons why after 40 years the Equal Rights Amendment still has not been ratified by the required 38 states not the least of which are (1) it is not needed and (2) it will be used to distort rational decision making by elevating gender over other considerations.  But this post is about Mr. Hanna and not the ERA.  

When HuffPost asked Hanna after the rally whether he was bucking his party by encouraging women to give their money to "the other side," he said that he wasn't.
"I'm trying to help [the GOP]," he said. "I think it's the appropriate thing to do."

Mr. Hanna, you were nominated for your office by local Republicans as their standard-bearer with the full knowledge that you were an independent thinker and would not always "tow the party line." However, your nomination and election should not be confused with a willingness to be lectured by you as to what Party members should believe. 

You were elected to represent the people of this district in Congress, not to "help" the Republican Party.  Telling women to support Democrats is not "appropriate" because it undermines the Republican Party and many of your supporters rather than "help" them.  If you undermine your supporters, why should they continue to support you?

Mr. Hanna, you may have just lost Utica-Rome's seat in Congress to someone from Binghamton.

Not Buying It . . .

Officials: More money needed to protect Griffiss assets 

“New York needs to come to the table and they need to do it in a big way,” U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-Barneveld, said. “The governor has committed $500,000? I don’t think that’s near enough.”

Just exactly what will this money be buying?

A Monument to Ourselves . . .

. . . does not solve our regional economic problems. . .  and could exacerbate them. . . . Thoughts that crossed my mind when perusing "Grant will help build One World Garden in Utica"
in the OD.

Rust to Green Utica announced Wednesday the receipt of a $48,475 grant to design a community green space called One World Garden on Park Avenue behind the Stanley Center for the Arts. . . . .

The grant was awarded by the Baltimore-based TKF Foundation through its Open Spaces, Sacred Places program to celebrate and better understand Utica’s changing blend of people created by its long-settled immigrants and its more recent influx of refugees, according to a news release . . .

When you can't solve problems you can always honor yourself or one of your friends, right?  Don't get me wrong.  Utica has a story to tell -- a proud story -- of people of many cultures coming to this place with barely the clothes on their back but ultimately finding the American Dream. . . . Of a community willing to embrace people different from themselves and becoming all the richer for it.  But what more celebration do we need than the variety of names in the phone book, the restaurants and grocers catering to unique palates,  the different hued faces, tongues, and modes of dress on our streets?  Utica is a living celebration of itself, and Uticans don't need to be told of where they've come from. 

Uticans also don't need another public space to take care of , especially now when the city can barely afford to keep police on its streets.  In addition, this is prime downtown land we're talking of.  It needs to be placed into productive TAX GENERATING use if Utica is to ever grow itself back into a city capable of sustaining itself.  A park prevents that from ever happening.

While the Rust2Green folks need to be commended for their efforts, they need to apply their considerable knowledge and collective intellect to analyze why that parcel of prime land has not attracted private development thus far, and then work to identify and solve the problems that they find.

Regional Obligations in New Hartford . . .

Last night the New Hartford Town board considered zoning changes to the New Hartford Business Park (NHBP) to permit small businesses, retail, offices, and restaurants. The members of the public in attendance were overwhelming opposed to the changes. 

While this blogger is disappointed that the Town Board voted to allow mixed development along Seneca Turnpike (Rt. 5) (the last thing NH needs is more congestion in that area) , the board wisely tabled changing the zoning of the bulk of the project area. 

Ultimately, the Board needs to reject this zoning change.

New Hartford owes its attractiveness for development to a regional infrastructure that has been paid for mostly by people residing outside the Town.  It has a public water system.  It has a sewage collection and treatment system.  It has a system of state and county highways.  New Hartford could never have afforded these on its own -- and town development would never have occurred without them.

Since New Hartford's "success"  is largely the product of a regional effort, it is only fitting that the Town uses its regional assets for the regional good.  Back in 1999, Town leaders tried to do just that when establishing the NHBP zone.

When the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the NHBP zone was issued in 1999, the zone was promoted as a site for industrial use, for "new high-technology industries" intended to "meet the economic needs of the entire region . . ."
It was recognized that the region had a shortage of high quality industrial sites that were large enough to meet the requirements of modern industries. The entire region supported New Hartford's efforts because the lack of such sites was a hindrance to the region moving forward economically.

What has happened to NHBP since could kindly be described as a "drift" from its original purpose.   (Unkindly, some may describe it as a "bait and switch.")  Offices seemed to become the primary use rather than ancillary as intended.  Then a hotel . . . and now the current proposal. 

While ridiculous state and national policies have put a damper on industrial development, it is not going to last forever.  Leaders will eventually realize that the public still needs "things,"   that the "things"  need to be made somewhere, and that an inability to make certain "things"  here poses a national security risk.  Will this region be ready?

The region, which has given so much to New Hartford,  cannot afford to lose NHBP as an industrial development site. New Hartford  needs to return to its original vision . . . for everyone's benefit.

Control Board Nonsense . . . and The Solution: Leadership

With the huge Utica city deficit some people are actually flirting with the idea of asking the State to come in and take over Utica's fiscal mess with a control board.

DON'T DO IT.

The State of New York has problems taking care of its own affairs so why should anyone think State control will improve things? Look at the NY budget.  How about Buffalo and Erie County? They are still in decline in spite of being under control boards.  How about the 700 school districts taken over by the State?  No headlines about student achievement there.  Some point to New York City and its Municipal Assistance Corp.  as a turnaround example... but NYC's turnaround was not engineered by the MAC. Rather, NYC's turnaround can be attributed to one man: Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his strong leadership. And therein lies the answer for Utica . . .

Leadership.

Utica is not going to be bailed out by the Tooth Fairy (even the Tooth Fairy is broke these days).  Utica will have to GROW itself out of this mess.  Knowing what will result in economic growth has been the question of the ages and seems to be a matter of guessing by those pretending to be experts in the area.  We know, however, what kills growth.

High taxes kill growth.
 
An 18.2% city tax increase on top of already high city, school, and county taxes and water and sewer fees and high utility costs will cause more people to leave town ... some may even abandon their properties.  What good does that do?

Utica needs to REDUCE taxes permanently; reduce unnecessary regulations; create accessible places where small businesses can set up shop without causing problems for neighbors; stop petty bickering over individual projects that drive up developer costs; and stop sucking on the Federal tit for grant money to construct more housing for poor people who wind up being from NYC. Anything less will continue the city’s loss of the very people and businesses it needs to pay the bills to sustain city services.

The People are the answer.

Since there is no $$$, Utica must marshal and coordinate the talents of volunteers — treat them and their ideas with respect — and value their work . . . because they will be the ones doing the things that the city will no longer be able to do adequately itself.

An example of what NOT to do: Pixley Park. One woman with a lot of help from her neighbors beautified a little corner of west Utica. But someone at City Hall, because they apparently did not like the woman, took umbrage and had the DPW destroy the volunteers’ work. Such must NEVER happen again.

Something else that must not be done:  giving raises to employees while relying on volunteers.

People LOVE Utica.  They WILL volunteer their time if they feel appreciated, feel that they are accomplishing something tangible, and feel that they are not being taken advantage of.


The key to making this all work: Leadership.

Surprised? Really?

Officials, residents surprised by people exiting South Utica 

... population fell by roughly 7 percent in the decade, from 10,105 to 9,353. Surprised?
So were a number of city officials and residents.

This blogger was not surprised! And I bet my readers are not surprised.

Utica officials and various institutions, particularly not-for-profits, are singularly focused on getting as much grant money as they can. Most grant money is geared to programs for the poor. Ergo, Utica's focus has been on its poor.

The recently passed Utica Master Plan and its drafts put this in sharp focus.  Why in the world would Utica need more "affordable housing" as called for in the Plan when it already has the most affordable housing in the nation according to recent surveys?  Why try to require that all developers set aside 20% of their units for "affordable housing?"  The answer to both questions is that federal programs have a lot of money for "affordable housing" and the "20%" criterion is a requirement.  But the Federal programs are geared to large metropolitan areas where housing is very expensive -- which is not the case here.  So the result here creates more harm than good.

Utica's citizens who are a bit higher up on the economic scale have been paying the bulk of the taxes that keep the city going.  But their needs have been ignored because there is no pot of grant money for officials to dip into for them.

They are "getting out while the getting is good."

It's Not About Health . . .

This story was the talk of conservative media last week:
Turkey sandwich replaced with chicken nuggets at North Carolina school  

A grandmother claims a state agent took away a homemade turkey sandwich, saying it wasn’t nutritious and didn’t meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines.. . . 

She said a few weeks ago that a state agent inspected her granddaughter’s lunch and forced her to eat chicken nuggets from the school’s cafeteria.

The woman said the lunch consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich on white bread, potato chips, a banana and apple juice. The student also brought home a bill for the cost of the school lunch she had to eat instead.

After cries of government "overreaching" took hold,  it was downplayed in main-stream press as a "teacher's mistake."

But this clearly was no "mistake" when a second  incident from the same school was reported, along with a memorandum from the school principal to pre-K parents explaining what would happen if a home-made lunch was brought to school and did not meet USDA standards.

The school lunch story was followed by this one: Mars to Downsize Candy Bars

This move is part of an agreement Mars signed with Michelle Obama's Partnership for a Healthier America.

What? The government wants to take away king-sized Snickers?

Then there was the political issue over who could be made to pay for contraceptives which are already readily available. 

Forcing people to pay for contraceptives in violation of their  religious beliefs, preventing them from buying king-sized candy bars, and replacing their home-made turkey sandwiches with mass-produced chicken nuggets ...

These things are NOT about health.

Goodbye Utica . . .

Utica continues its history of self-destruction . . . Council changes direction, supports Arterial plan

Councilman Joseph Marino, D-4, who sponsored the most recent legislation, said he hopes the state gets the message.

 “It’s saying, ‘We do in fact support the project,” Marino said. “We do in fact support investment in this area.”

Even investment that continues a 50 year pattern of destruction, apparently.

So . . . What becomes of the issues raised last year? The visual and psychological barrier of a wall separating the Brewery and Arts Districts and preventing synergies between them does not go away. The effect of cutting off Sunset Avenue -- a major North-South thoroughfare in Utica -- does not go away. The effects of severing Lincoln Ave from Court St, routing Lincoln Ave over Roberts St., and eliminating a right turn off westbound Court onto the arterial, do not go away. Removal of scores of properties from potentially contributing to the tax rolls does not go away.

The "devil is in the details" as they say, and this new, youthful Common Council -- whom the public had desperately hoped would inject vitality into the body -- has shown itself to be too lazy to address the details: the changes to the UTICA street system, traffic patterns, potential tax base, and the effects thereof.

Being "decisive" is easy if one does not care. Being deliberative requires effort.

Instead of youthful vigor, Utica gets operatives of the elites who have pulled the strings from behind the scenes for the last 30 years.

But the council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday saying they are supportive of the current plan

Unanimous?  This blogger has been on the receiving end of numerous e-mails urging attendance at Council meetings on this issue . . . but received nothing in over a month.

Mr. Zecca, you have some 'splaining to do.


Goodbye Utica . . . Between lazy, know-nothing newbies and old would-be power brokers, there is no hope for you.